Shards of Our Hearts
by Priestess Mayumi
Summary: Mokuba gets kidnapped big surprise and Seto has to save him. Unbenounced to him, there are other people watching over Mokuba, and over him. Things aren't always as they seem. Will Mokuba and Seto be able to accept everything? Rated for action violence.


Shards of Our Hearts

Haha! My first Yugioh fan fiction! I feel so awesome right now! Kaiba bros FTW! I don't own them (dang it)

Chapter One: Kaigi

Seto Kaiba strolled through the doors of Mokuba's junior high, his stiff coat billowing regally behind him. The stoic teenager kept a straight face, but his clenched fists were enough to tell anyone that he was mad as...well, you get the idea.

The multimillionaire was absolutely furious, livid, and every other synonym for "very mad". In the middle of a very important meeting, he had received a call from his brother's school. Seems that Mokuba and another student had gotten in a fight with three students from the raven-haired Kaiba's class.

That surprised Seto Kaiba. Mokuba? Getting involved in a fight? If it was true, this was way out of character for his happy-go-lucky brother. Whatever happened, it better be good. He had had to cancel the rest of his business meeting to come babysit some kids and teachers.

Purposefully, not stopping at the secretary's desk, Kaiba took the liberty of letting himself into the principal's office. The principal was not on Kaiba's top ten greatest educators in the world. She was so stiff and by the book...clearly she didn't condone "screwing the rules".

Mokuba was sitting in the chair closest to the window, looking down at his feet. Kaiba couldn't see his brother's face, but there were gauze bandages around Mokuba's arms. That alone was enough to make Kaiba furious.

Beside Mokuba there was an empty chair; Kaiba presumed it was for him. Next to that sat a young girl, Mokuba's age. Her hair was white-blonde and she was fidgeting nervously with the skirt of her school uniform. Next to her was a woman, the girl's mother perhaps? Her hair was silver and hung far down her back in a plait. She was wearing a messenger's cap and crossing her legs in a way that showed she was just as displeased with the situation as Kaiba.

"Kaiba-san, please have a seat," the principal, Ibuki-sensei, snapped formally. With a barely audible grunt of disgust, Kaiba situated himself in the chair, taking care not to wrinkle the pleats of his jacket. "Let's get this over with," he stated curtly.

Ibuki-sensei pushed her wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose before stating, in her oh-so-superior tone, "Let's, Kaiba-san. I have already talked to the other children and parents involved. We've pretty much pieced together what happened, but it's only fair to let Taniyama-san and Kaiba-kun have their say."

Kaiba quickly figured out that the principal was implying that Mokuba and the girl were guilty, but that she had to make the investigation seem fair. _Well, _Kaiba schemed, _two can play at a game like this._

Ibuki-sensei immediately turned on Mokuba. "Kaiba-kun, would you care to share what happened?"

For several minutes, Mokuba was absolutely silent, and Kaiba could faintly see his brother chewing on his bottom lip, a nervous habit that he had been trying to break the kid of. Finally, Mokuba raised his head, and Seto's anger soared. Cuts and bruises swept all across his kid brother's face. He had a bloody lip and his face was patched with bandages. In a soft, almost inaudible voice, Mokuba spoke. What Seto heard next, he was not expecting.

"They were picking on me, and so I punched Iwasawa-kun. Then everyone got in a fight. But, Taniyama-san was only trying to stop the fight. She shouldn't be punished for just trying to stop it." His confession finished, Mokuba bowed his head once again and stared at the floor. Ibuki-sensei switched her gaze to a spot right between the younger girl and Seto. "Mokuba's story checks out with what the other boys said. Mokuba is the one that started the fight, so he will have to be suspended until further notice." The anger continued to seethe inside of Seto and, next to him, his brother was turning a bright shade of embarrassed red.

"Do you have anything to add, Taniyama-san?"

All eyes in the room switched to the young girl. Saying nothing, she pulled a pink cellphone out of her pocket, pushed a few buttons, and set the device on the table in front of them all. On the phone was a sound recording, and one of the voices was most certainly Mokuba's.

"They're not going to admit the truth. It's better that we just go along with their story. The punishment will be less harsh that way."

Another voice chimed in to respond. Seto guessed that the young girl's voice was the one that spoke next. "Are you crazy? You're going to accept punishment for something you didn't do? Those jerk-wads were beating you up for no reason. You didn't even fight back..._I _was the one who had to teach Iwasawa and the others a lesson."

"I can't, Taniyama. I could never face my brother if he knew that I had been bullied. I can't show weakness. I'll take the blame for it all. Just go along with the story and saw that you saw us all fighting and tried to stop it..."

The sound recording unexpectedly cut off there. The girl reached across the table to collect her cellphone, stuffing it into her jacket pocket before speaking. "That's what happened, the truth. I walked around the side of the building after lunch to see Iwasawa and the others beating up Mokuba. He wasn't fighting, just rolled into a ball in the corner of the yard. I knew that Iwasawa and his monkeys had been making fun of Mokuba...but this was the first time I'd seen them physically harm him. I didn't really know what to do. I knew I wasn't strong enough to fight them off on my own. I waited, as people passed by, catching a glimpse of what was happening. I waited for someone..._anyone_ to stop and help Mokuba. Nobody did. I had to do something."

Leaning back in her chair, Taniyama continued. "I know what I did was against the rules, but I don't regret what I did. After that, the teachers finally stepped in and Mokuba, trying to save himself shame, wanted me to go along with Iwasawa's pack of lies. But, I can't do that! Even if it means that I am giving up my "get-out-of-jail-free" card, you have to know that Mokuba didn't land so much as a single punch on those guys. It was all me. So, you can suspend me, expel me, or put me up for adoption." Crossing her arms around her chest, Taniyama signified that she was done speaking.

The room was silent for a moment. Then, there was the sound of chair scraping against floor. Turning, the room's occupants saw that the adult with Taniyama had stood up. Looking straight at the principal, she spoke clear and evenly. "Ibuki-sensei, I understand that what my sister did was a violation of the rules. However, I cannot rebuke her actions." The flustered Ibuki opened her mouth to say something, but the girl continued all the same. "In our world, those who break the rules and disregard the regulations are considered trash. However, the people who walked right on by and saw Kaiba-kun being bullied are _worse_ than trash. I cannot be angry with Hotaru, because I know that I would have done the same thing."

Seto took this as his cue. Standing up, he spoke patronizingly to the principal. "I am confident that you will see that this _matter _is taken care of. And, if you so much as put a post-it note on Mokuba or Taniyama-san's records, I will sink you into a black hole of financial crisis."

The always-snide Ibuki-sensei had no response for that one.


End file.
